Sunday, September 20, 2015

Ruth Ippel, SN (School Nurse)


I love nursing because of the variety of jobs that go along with it.  This week I had a new “first” as a nurse: I subbed for the school nurse at NCA. I’ve always kind of thought I’d like to be a school nurse, mostly because then Andrew and I could blissfully enjoy free summers together, and these two days gave me a chance to give it a try. I know two days can’t give me a full picture what it is really like, and the fact that the nurse’s office is one of the few air conditioned rooms on campus probably really impacted my level of satisfaction, but I really did enjoy it.  By far the most interesting thing I did was pull a staple out of a kid’s thumb… he had an explanation, but I still don’t totally understand how it got there. The runner ups were irrigating an ear, and treating scraped armpits.  The first day, I had 36 “patients,” which made me wonder, how do schools in the US do it?  School nurses in the US have really become a thing of the past, with hours being cut and positions being replaced by health assistants or even just the school secretary.  At this relatively small school, I was busy all day!  I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with the students, hearing their stories, and being the recipient of their hugs.  I don’t know if I would want to do it all the time, but I would certainly do it again.



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